1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to solar power systems and, in particular, to solar power collectors. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for pointing solar power collectors.
2. Background
Solar power may involve converting solar radiation into electricity through solar cells. The solar cells are solid state devices that convert sunlight into electricity using a photovoltaic effect. Assemblies of these solar cells form solar modules, which are also referred to as solar collectors or just collectors.
Solar power plants use large numbers of these collectors. A collector may have different sizes. For example, a collector may be from about two square meters in size to over 10 square meters in size.
With the use of solar cells that employ photovoltaics to generate electricity, the orientation of these collectors may affect the amount of electricity generated. It is desirable to have a vector normal to the surface of a collector directed or pointed towards the sun. As the orientation of the collector deviates from this desired direction, the amount of electricity generated by the collector may decrease.
Depending on the particular system, the tolerance or range in pointing the collectors may be important in increasing the amount of electricity that can be generated by the collectors.
In some solar power systems, concentrating photovoltaics are used. These types of systems may include lenses, mirrors, or a combination of the two to focus sunlight on the photovoltaic cells in the collectors. These concentrators may increase the concentration ratio. For example, the concentration ratio may be about 400 to about 1,000 times the amount of light received from unconcentrated sunlight. With collectors that employ concentrators, the accuracy in pointing the collector towards the sun may be even more important, as compared to collectors that do not use concentrators.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.